just intrigued to know what motivated people to teach english as a foregin language. is it the chance to travel, money, boredom at home, etc? what made u choose the country u in? or more simply, why are u where u are today?

While going through an "oh my god I am about to graduate from college and I have absolutely no clue what to do with my life" crisis, I saw an ad for a TEFL course in Prague in my neighborhood laundromat. I didn't see a viable career in my field of study (peace studies--a lot more depressing than it sounds!), so I signed up.

As to countries, I chose:

the Czech Republic because my TEFL course was in Prague and it was easier to stick around and find a job than move on

China because I knew that once I finished my MA and started paying back loans I wouldn't be able to afford it (I did a summer program there in between grad school years)

Japan (my current location) because it is one of very few places that provides a high enough salary to be able to pay off my loans and live a comfortable life

I certainly can see myself doing this in 5-10 years. Either teaching or curriculum design or something.

Not to be petty, but why is this in the Asia section? Your questions apply to anyone, anywhere.

Why TEFL? : Chance to travel and earn money while doing so
Enjoy/told i'm good at teaching
Originally looking for a profession to facilitate obtaining US visa
to follow partner to the states. (reason no longer applies)

I also enjoy teaching, although I'm new to it, and wanted to travel a bit and live abroad for a while before eventually going back for my MA. However I find this a very rewarding lifestyle, so I could definitely see myself doing it for another 5 - 10 years.

Why China? Well I took a TEFL course in Barcelona, but I didn't want to have to work illegally in Spain, and spent a month in Prague before realizing I didn't have to go door - to - door to the language schools and beg for jobs that involved very low pay, long hours, and children (goddamn kids). I work at a college now, it's a very stress - free life, and I earn enough to save for future travels. I would love to try Japan or get back to Europe someday but right now I've happy with where I am. And the food beats your sushi and sake any day! (But I think that belongs in another thread.)

Why China? I work at a college now, it's a very stress - free life, and I earn enough to save for future travels.

Really. I'm really (really) interested in working in China though at present am committed to a year in the land of Saki and Sushi.
How did you get your college job? Was it no problem with simply BA plus CELTA (or TEFL)? And could you pop your head back into the 'incorrect sentence?' thread to deal with those teachers who insist that the "to be" in "found to be" is a redundancy despite you having once already shown how the sentences differ?

My best friend came to China to teach and after a while she told me I should come as well and see it for myself. Since I had nothing else to do
I applied for teaching jobs in Asia (China and India were sort of a *priority* for me) 3 years ago and got plenty of responses from all over the world (no idea why - I specifically stated "Asia"). But the company I still work for was the quickest in replying and arranging the documents.